“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Is 59:2)
The last instalment of the theme on hearing the voice of God will be focused on the elements that prevent us from hearing Him. Sometimes you have the sense that the Holy Spirit has been taken away from you (Ps 51:11). Strictly speaking this is not the case, provided that you are not sinning continuously and maliciously, as Ps 19:13, Num 15:30-31 and Heb 6:6 attests, but the Holy Spirit is indeed saddened (Is 63:10), contested (Acts 7:51) or quenched (1 Thes 5:19).
The first culprit: disobedience. If you are at a point where you are struggling to hear the voice of God, the most probable reason is some form of disobedience. God greatly values (and requires) obedience. According to Paul in Rom 8:2 disobedience is as stubbornness, and we know that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Sam 15:23). The disobedience of believers must be transformed into an attitude of righteousness (Luke 1:17) –“They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” (Tit 1:16). In this way many children of God are also “sons of disobedience” and in turn evoke God’s wrath (Eph 5:6). Within these “sons of disobedience” it is another spirit that is at work, and not the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:2). According to Heb 2:2 and 1 Pet 4:17 there are principles of righteous vengeance for disobedience, one of them being the quenching of the Holy Spirit. Thus our obedience needs to be fulfilled (2 Cor 10:6) before we can once again hear the voice of God.
The second element to consider is that of sin, iniquities and transgressions which can act as a wall separating us from God. You can only enter into God’s presence if your heart and your hands are clean (Ps 124:4), as Ps 124:4 being one which speaks of the believers “who do not worship idols or make false promises” (GNB). This may often have originated not from something you have done but instead something you have said (Prov 4:24; James 3:6). Through our words we may have saddened the Holy Spirit, who in turn has retracted (Eph 4:30).
The third possibility is what I prefer to call those things that, unbeknownst to us, misaligns us with God’s will – oppression, being judgemental, speaking evil words (Is 58:9); pride (James 4:6), injustice, bitterness, anger and slander (Eph 4:31), but also that which we neglect to do (Is 58:6, 7 & 10), the way we treat our marriage partners (1 Pet 3:1 & 7, Mal 2:14), emotional violence (Mal 2:16), even something someone may hold against you (Matt 5:23). “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.” (Isia 63:10). Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you to the source of that which hampers you from hearing God.
- Sela: Continually ask God (starting now) to reveal to you what it is that may bring distance between you and Him.
- Read: 1 Sam 31; Prov 3; Gal 3
- Memorise: Gal 3:28-29
